Journey to $100 Million: Entrepreneurship & Digital Marketing

If you've been listening to this podcast for a while you know that Erik and Kevin take turns putting out content. They’re pretty good about alternating days but sometimes it’s nice to hear from others. They know there are a lot of people out there with an abundance of business knowledge and information to share. If that's you, and you are interested in being a guest host on this podcast Erik would love to hear from you.

You can email him at [email protected] or send him a direct message on Twitter at @iamerikjolson. Let him know what you would like to talk about, and if it's a fit we might hear you on one of our upcoming episodes soon.

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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!

What are you doing to innovate during this time?

There are a lot of things we can't control about the pandemic, but when it comes to our businesses there are a lot of things we can control. A massive change to the economy like this means you have to make changes too. It may mean making changes to your sales process, your operations, your target client, or even your offering. There are lots of workarounds to help get through this.

One example is a roofing client of ours. They decided to start providing estimates using aerial footage. Instead of coming out to the house and providing an in-person estimate, they are using things like Google Maps and other things to get a sense for the project and provide an estimate. Then, if they win the project they inform the client how they will provide the service safely while practicing social distancing. That’s smart.

Another example is a client of ours who is an entertainment place for children. They have been completely shut down for a few weeks now. Kevin suggested the idea for them to open up their kitchen to make the pizza and wings that they normally make and start delivering the food or offering carry-out. That was an innovative idea to help keep them in business, even if that wasn't part of their normal offering.

So think about what you can do to innovate and get through this time. It could help save your business.

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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!

There are many pros and cons to working and one of the cons is noise.

Like many people Erik is working from home these days, and has been for about the last five or six weeks. Before the pandemic broke out he was in the process of creating a home office space but he hadn't finished. So he has been working from his unfinished office, and it hasn't been the ideal setup, but it's getting him by. Sometimes he has to work around noise from his family, noise from the HVAC system and pool pump just outside his window, and even his six birds which can be heard from across the house. Earlier he tried to record this podcast episode but he couldn't because his neighbor was mowing their grass. There always seems to be something but he doesn’t mind too much.

He loves the commute and the extra time. The slight disturbances are just that.

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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!

We have been able to sign new clients since the pandemic broke out. In the last three weeks we have signed on about $15,000 a month in recurring revenue. That's pretty exciting given the current economic situation. This has been a combination of new clients and existing clients who have added more services. This is promising because it means they are stable during a time like this and eager to grow their business for the future. Those are exactly the types of clients we want to attract.

Not all industries are able to do this. Many have been forced to close. But, just like there are industries that aren't doing well, there are those who are stable, and others who are actually thriving. We want to go after the ones who are determined to come out on the other side of this crisis.

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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!

Not having a commute has meant having a lot more time. Before the pandemic Erik used to get up early every morning and drive to the gym to swim or run. He had been training for a Half Ironman, so he was spending a lot of time training in the mornings before work. He would then commute to the office, work a full day, and a few times a week he would go back to the gym in the evenings to lift weights. He would spend about an hour and a half there and then drive home. That often led to him getting home around 7 or 8 in the evenings.

Now that the gym is closed he has found he has a lot more time these days. He's still running or biking every day from home. He’s also working from home. However, he no longer has those commutes to the gym or the office, or the hour and a half to lift weights and socialize, and he's even cut out the time that it takes to pack his gym bag and his clothes. He estimates this has shaved off about an hour and a half to two hours of time every day, and he kind of likes it. He finds himself spending more time with his wife and his daughter at home, and working on things that he didn't have time for before.

It's been an interesting time for him and many others. It has opened his mind to possibly telecommuting more when this is over.

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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!

The Paycheck Protection Program, otherwise known as the PPP was signed into law on March 27, 2020. This was part of a larger bill that was passed to help businesses and individuals recover from the economic fallout from the Coronavirus. From the moment information started circulating about this potential bill Erik started looking into it. He wanted to be one of the first in line to apply if and when it got signed into law. He started calling his local bank and asking about it. At the time it seemed we knew more about the loan program than they did as the details around the loan kept changing.

Erik and Katya spent the next several days doing more research and preparing all of the paperwork that might be needed to apply. Approximately two and a half weeks after the bill passed we applied through our bank. We had the funds within a week. So, it took three weeks from the time the bill was passed until we received the loan.

Like so many other things in business time was of the essence. We jumped on this opportunity the minute we learned about it. Many other businesses did too and have benefited from it. Unfortunately those who waited are now being told that the funds have run out. The big lesson learned here is to be prepared. Get your things in order so when an opportunity presents itself you are ready for it.

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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!

Times are tough right now for businesses and individuals. It's possible if you're listening to this you may have recently gone out of business. There aren't many businesses the Coronavirus pandemic hasn't affected. Some industries are doing better than before the virus outbreak but many others are not.

For the last couple of years Erik and Kevin have struggled to pick a niche for their business. Everyone told them that they should, but they were never able to decide. That has turned out to work in our favor during this crisis. Had we decided to niche in retail businesses for example, we would be out of business right now. We have taken a hit in revenue but we are stable for the time being.

We have had to make big decisions quickly. When we saw that some of our clients were doing better than others we decided to focus on getting more of those types of clients now. We quickly created a sales process focused on getting more of those clients and we started creating web pages to add to our website aimed at attracting those clients. The goal is to try and make our business recession-proof. Adapting quickly is critical for that.

Think about what changes you could make to adapt your business in these difficult times and act quickly. It could mean the difference between making it and not.

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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!

One of Erik’s 2020 resolutions is to complete Half Ironman. If you aren’t familiar with this triathlon, it’s a 1.2 mile swim, followed by a 56 mile bike ride and ends with a 13.1 mile run. However, it’s hard to train for the Half-Ironman when your training facilities are closed.

In this episode, Erik talks about how he gets around this obstacle despite having no warm water to practice in. Even though he can admit defeat and drop out, that’s just not Erik’s style. He urges you to stay hopeful, set your sights high, and go accomplish your goals no matter the obstacles.

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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

—

Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!

Most of us are homebound these days due to the Coronavirus. We're having to work at home and find new ways to network. Kevin loves to network and meet new people. Normally it's what gets him up in the mornings. Lately however, he and others have had to find other ways to get in front of people since he can't physically meet with them.

Creating videos, going live, and social media are critical during this time. People still need to know who you are, and going live and making videos is a great way to do that. We have seen a tremendous increase in Zoom calls and videos on social media. Kevin has been invited by fellow business owners and taken part in a few Zoom calls to learn about their businesses and talk about his. At Array Digital we have moved our usual monthly networking meeting online and we are cranking out content for our Lunchtime Livestream on Fridays.

Think about how you can get in front of your audience through video, livestreams, and social media. When things eventually get back to normal you’ll want to have put a face to your name and created that relationship.

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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!

Facebook has pledged $100 million dollars to help small businesses during the Coronavirus crisis. To be eligible you must be a small business between 2 and 50 employees, you must have been in business for at least a year, you must have experienced challenges in your business due to the Coronavirus, and you must be near a location where Facebook operates. Facebook has locations all over the US and around the world. To find out if you qualify or if you are near a Facebook operations center visit the following website:

https://www.facebook.com/business/boost/grants

These are grants that are meant to help small businesses that will not have to be repaid.

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Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups.

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For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!